BENGALURU: A day after its decision to increase fares of four state-owned road transport corporations (RTCs), the Siddaramaiah government is planning to hike prices of milk. There are 16 milk unions under KMF and nearly 40 lakh dairy farmers in the state. On an average, one crore litres of milk is procured daily, making Karnataka a top state in dairy farming. Earlier, Siddaramaiah hinted at a milk price hike.
Minister for Animal Husbandry K Venkatesh told TNIE on Friday that there is pressure from dairy farmers and other stakeholders to increase milk prices. “They want the price to be increased by Rs 8 to Rs 10 a litre. The reasons they stated are prices of fodder and other essentials for dairy farming have gone up. We may have to take a call soon,’’ he said.
He said he would consult the CM before taking a decision. “We have not decided whether to increase it by Rs 3 or Rs 5, but we have a demand to increase it by Rs 10,” he added. On when the decision would be taken, he said soon, adding that ahead of its budget, the government should have clarity on its revenue.